Boston has a solid core returning, and will look to fill their roster with a mix of fee agents and this year’s draft.
Like we did last year we invited some other PWHL reporters. to join us in a mock draft to try and make sense of what is always a nebulous draft process. We had Jared Book of Habs Eyes on the Prize for Montreal, Nate Wells of Gopher State for Minnesota, Michael Lopez of Tendy Love and Care was New York, Kyle Cushman of theScore represented Toronto and Anne Tokarski was our person for Ottawa formerly of The Ice Garden.
This year we had a set order, no snake, and only 7 rounds of picks. So it went a lot faster, we did discuss free agents as well. Boston Picked 4th in each round by virtue of passing Minnesota on the penultimate day of the regular season, the post season had no factor on draft positioning.
Entering the draft Boston has 11 people signed to contracts, 7 F, 2 D and 2 G. With the two goalies on the roster that will certainly not be a priority. Defense will have to be a top priority which is where I spent my early capital. I personally think we will bring back som Free Agents (Morin and Fratkin) but that still leaves two huge holes in the starting group and a need for some depth. Up at the top You have your top two lines mostly intact plus Girard and Gabel. My feeling is they will prioritize a winger to pair withMueller and Tapani moving Schafzahl down the line up. For the main roster I think that Marner will be bringing back Brandt and Shirley while making a major push at Adzija, she will have a wide market and has fewer ties to the Boston. This leaves four positions in the starting line up plus the reserve roles. With the increase in games you have to feel like they will be adding at the least more reserve spots if not more roster spots so the depth will be crucial.
Among the reserve Free Agents I feel like both Pelkey and Babstock are prime candidates to come back in some capacity, both well liked figures that are great for the locker room. The big bring in should be Jillian Dempsey as she is like moving towards the end of her career and certainly does not want to end it in a non-Boston sweater.
With those free agents likely being involved there are four starting roster spots plus the extra defender spot left to fill, 1st Line RW, 3rd Line C, 1RD, 2LD and the extra defender.
Round 1
4- Cayla Barnes, D, Ohio State (Boston College)- With the top two picks likely settled it came down to whom amongst the the two former Eagle current Buckeyes Minnesota would pick. In our Draft Minnesota went with F Hannah Bilka, so that left D Cala Barnes for Boston which is a hell of a consolation prize. Barnes will slot up nicely with Keller, the two of them played together at BC and for Team USA. Claire Thompson was a strong consideration at this spot and Amanda Kessel could get look especially with her ties to our head coach.
Round 2
10- Ronja Savolainen, D, Luleå HF- I once again went D, this time a big European. The forward I was targeting, Izzy Daniel, went the pick before and while Julia Gosling was still on the board I was pretty sold on Savolainen. With the physicality that this league has allowed a bigger more established D will be crucial in establishing a presence and protecting Frankel.
Round 3
16- Jennifer Gardiner, F, Ohio State- At this point I knew I needed to get a scoring threat. The other options available were Abby Boreen, Klara Hymlarova or Brit Curl. I went with Gardiner because I felt like she would slot in well with Mueller and Tapani, as about a point per game scorer in the WCHA while also being a former U-18 for Canada.
Round 4
22- Naomi Rogge, F, Minnesota-Duluth/ SDE HF- Here I was looking to fill a 3rd/ 4th line C spot. I wanted someone who had played a more physical game in Europe that could slot in. I was very torn between Rogge and Yale’s Elle Hartje. I could very easily see Marner going that direction and in hindsight I might make that switch myself. Rogge’s experience in Sweden will be a big boost for her and hopefully make her day one ready to jump into the PWHL, Hartje might take a bit more time to adjust, which is something that teams can ill afford in this league.
Round 5
28- Anna Wilgren, D, Wisconsin- At this point D were getting slimmer and slimmer pickings, so I made the move to add my extra defender role with a Badger/ Maverick product. Boston will need depth at D this ear with the extended schedule and the ever present injury bug.
Round 6
34- Julia Nearis, F, Quinnipiac (Boston University)- I was definitely reaching here. But at this point in the draft I was not seeing people I expect to regularly be top 9 forwards and most likely looking at reserve role/ training camp players. They will also be likely making league minimum so you need to find players willing to stay in Boston under those connections so I was looking at players with ties. I was initially looking at Katy Knoll but thought she had been taken already and went with the BU/ Quinnipiac product as someone that could step in and play.
Round 7
40- Katy Knoll, F, Northeastern- At this point it was rally looking for who could fit in and maybe give a boost on the games they get rostered for. I was pleasantly surprised to see I was mistaken that Knoll was taken earlier, though Ottawa had been looking at her each of the previous rounds, hence my mistake. But my luck is Boston’s luck as Knoll is a player that when given the right people around her can make magic happen. She isn’t the take over the ice player NU was hoping for last year but Knoll is plenty capable of taking advantage of whatever she is given and boosting her squad.
Free Agents
The draft class got a bit slim at this point, and there are options for reserve level players but I will mostly focus on the returning free agents here. AS already discussed I feel like Brandt Morin, and Fratkin are pretty safe returns. I like to think Shirley found her role and will look to be back, while Adzija is a great to have she could find a bigger role/ deal else where. Dempsey is a Boston or bust player in my mind, and Babstock is likely a similar model. I would love to see Gigi Marvin come back and if she is playing she should get a spot, but I wonder if retirement is in the cards for her.
Of the other non Boston free agents, I could see Boston try to go in on Amanda Boulier with her previous Boston experience on D and up top I would not be surprised if Boston made overtures towards Daryl Watts. She is controversial but she is also the most dynamic available scorer, the question is will she buy in and give her full effort. The other forward I wouldn’t mind a stronger look at is Mikayla Grant-Mentis. She found her groove after her move to Montreal and was very good for them on special teams, a drastic area of improvement for Boston.
Tune in tonight on the PWHL YouTube at 7PM ET to follow along as the real decision makers make their picks and we see how close we came to them.